Peter Island Resort, which is set on its own island across Sir Francis Drake Channel from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, is an extremely luxurious private island hotel. It has a leisurely layout, concentrated mainly on just two areas, the Inner Bay, where you will find Tradewinds dining room, the reception, pool and 32 of the rooms, and on the spectacular Deadman’s Bay, a superb palm-backed beach, where 27 suites are set just above the sand, and which is also home to the beach bar and watersports. Farther afield on a separate bay a ten room spa is set in its own dedicated building and scattered on the heights is a handful of villas that get the best of the views. With its strategically placed hammocks and many secluded corners – and also with high levels of service and privacy - Peter Island is a trusty and luxurious island retreat.
KEY FEATURES
An excellent private Caribbean island resort, 56 rooms, suites and some supreme villas, 5 beaches, swimming pool, restaurant and wine room, beach bar and grill, lounge bar, full service spa and beauty salon, Jacuzzi, 4 tennis courts, watersports and PADI dive shop, fitness centre, hiking and cycling trails, WiFi access in main areas and villas, helicopter pad.
STYLE
Elegantly finished, largely modern architectural style, with some West Indian wood, stonework and shingles and stylish interiors. Top-notch service in a relaxed style with a touch of marine activity too. Private, exclusive and romantic
CLIENT PROFILE
Well-heeled, often private clientele, some stars, many from the US, some European regulars
Interestingly you don’t get much of a sense of the resort on Peter Island as you make the twenty-minute crossing of Sir Francis Drake Channel from Tortola. The island itself rises on the horizon, but not that many buildings make themselves visible until you draw near – and with just 50 or so rooms on a relatively large island it barely feels busy anyway. Briefly, as you pull into Inner Bay, you might feel a small buzz of marine activity around you, with the yachts on the dock and dive boats puttering around, but then as you are collected and taken to hotel reception a serene tropical calm will prevail. At once the atmosphere changes down a gear.
There are two main centres of gravity on Peter Island. The first is on the point that protects the marina on Inner Bay (which also carries the delightful name Sprat Bay), looking out onto Francis Drake Channel. As you arrive at reception the hotel announces itself in neatly tended gardens and a small alley of date palms and traveller’s trees. Passing the boutique on your right, you come into the main building with its pyramid-shaped shingle roof. Here you will find a large open-air foyer, with the reception and the concierge desk facing one another from opposite sides. There are several strategically placed areas to sit and to pause, upholstered benches and garden chairs around glass tables. Afternoon tea is served here at four.
Beyond the foyer you emerge onto a terrace where you will find the main dining room, Tradewinds Restaurant, on your right. It has walls of natural stone and yellow render, but the key feature is its full length glass doors (which are sometimes kept closed to enable air-conditioning), and large windows looking out onto Sir Francis Drake Channel - the most popular tables have a lovely view onto the lights of Tortola at night. There is a covered dining terrace outside – Drake’s Lounge - if you prefer to eat outside. The fare is a sophisticated fusion of different cuisines, served on bright tablecloths, while you sit on very attractive wooden dining chairs. Tradewinds is open for breakfast, lunch and for Peter Island’s fine dining dinners. At the rear of the restaurant is a private dining room for sixteen people with floor to ceiling wine racks.
Tradewinds gives onto the main pool area. Here you will find the large kidney-shaped pool surrounded by a terrace set with palms and plants in large urns. Around the pool are dotted thatched sunshades with classic wooden furniture and loungers in Peter Island’s distinctive green fabrics. The bar at the dining room will serve you a drink. Beyond the pool, set in its own air-conditioned gazebo-like building on the waterfront, is the Club Room. This contains a pool table, books, games, and a TV with DVDs. There is also internet access here.
Running along the rear of the point that protects Inner Bay, backing onto the marina itself, is the curve of the 32 Ocean View Rooms, which are set in distinctive A-frame buildings with pointed roofs. They are very comfortable inside, with light walls, wooden ceilings and louvered French windows, but the strongest feature is the colour scheme - an array of bright colours - in the fabrics and modern prints. The rooms have both ceiling fans and air-conditioning and each has a terrace or a balcony, which gives onto the lovely tropical gardens - a very pleasant hideaway where hammocks are slung among the trees. They are purposefully lean in terms of technology (they have just a phone and a clock radio), though the nearby Club Room has a TV with DVDs of course. The views from the balconies are lovely too, carrying over the pool and Club Room, onto the Channel and eventually to Tortola beyond. The whole of this area is reserved for hotel guests and so it is relatively private.
You will certainly spend time visiting other areas of the island and if you do not want to walk then transport will carry you from Reception. On your way to the pick-up point you will pass the boutique, which sells beachwear, some tropical and Peter Island-branded clothes as well as books, spices and sauces, caps, hats and bags. The buggy will then take you past the marina and main dock, the dock house and dive shop and eventually make its way up the slope out of Inner Bay.
The track descends into Peter Island’s second main centre of gravity, Deadman’s Bay, whose beach appears ahead of you on your left. At the near end, set just above the sand, are Peter Island’s other rooms, the Beachfront Junior Suites, in cottages of cut stone and clapboard that look out through a lovely screen of coconut palms. Inside, the suites have tiled floors and crazy stone and clapboard walls with exposed wood ceilings. They also have the same array of striking bright fabrics and prints. The view from these rooms is spectacular and they each have a balcony from which to enjoy it, but another feature is that the bathroom at the rear of the room has a window looking straight over the bed and out to the front - so you can even get the view from your bath.
The beach stretches for a mile in a graceful curve of sand and palms. Mid-way along it is the beach club, where you can base yourself for the day. Here there are beach chairs and watersports including snorkelling, kayaking and sailing. The beach club itself fits the style of the rest of the resort, with stone piers supporting a shingle roof, though it is open-sided so there is natural air. You sit in armchairs with a lovely view through the palm trunks, where more hammocks are slung. Inland from here are the four tennis courts. Also there is the ‘Bus Stop’. Any passing hotel buggies are very happy to take you to the other part of the resort.
Farther down the beach, the track swings inland to the right and passes over to Big Reef Bay, the east-facing windward beach where the spa is situated. The spa itself stands in a large stone and wooden building with a tin roof in Caribbean style. There are ten treatment rooms in the main building, including a steam room and sauna and a relaxation area. Set separately (on the waterfront a little farther down the shore) there are a couple of rooms in thatched ‘bohios’, which are designed to make the best of the fantastic view out to sea during your treatment. The spa serves light meals on the terrace if you do not want to return to the main part of the resort or the beach club. On the beach side of the spa is a lawn surrounded by tropical greenery and palms which is often used for weddings.
Back at the turn down into Big Reef Bay, another track leads up the hill and onto the spine of the island, where it divides to reach other remoter parts. The helicopter pad is near the summit here as you climb and beyond it on the heights you will come to one of the three villas available for rent on the island (the other two are closer to the main area, above Inner Bay, looking out onto Sir Francis Drake Channel). Beyond here the road cuts down to White Bay in one direction and in another it carries on to the south-eastern finger of Peter Island, where it culminates in a loop at the point (which makes a nice walk or mountain bike loop).
Looking along the spine, you will see that the western section of Peter Island is not developed. However, Peter Island is a popular yachting anchorage, particularly in the protected Great Harbour (the next bay along from the marina and Inner Bay where you will find the simple dwelling of Scoobie, the island’s only local resident) and so there is always some yachting activity.
Even if you do not arrive on a yacht there are plenty of possibilities for enjoying the sailing - many people feel that you will miss out on the best of the BVI if you do not spend some time out on the water. There are diving and snorkelling trips and day sails up and down the island chain. You can even exchange nights in your hotel room with nights on board the hotel yacht.
With just 52 rooms and suites and a handful of villas on such a large island, Peter Island never feels crowded. There are some centres of activity, so you can feel a part of the action if you wish. Equally though, it is possible to have complete seclusion in extremely elegant surroundings, unaffected entirely by the outside world. The hotel’s logo is a yellow hammock and it is completely apt.
Beach & Swimming There are several beaches on Peter Island, some lovely and remote and ideal for a day spent quietly, but unquestionably the best beach is Deadman’s Bay, which is a fantastic, mile-long curve of palm-backed sand (and one of the loveliest beaches in the Virgin Islands). It is partially protected by a lump of rock called Dead Chest (see Locality, below) and so the water is calm and ideal for swimming.
You will find the Peter Island Beach Club here, with its bar and dining room, and also the watersports hut. Beaches are public in the Caribbean and so sailors anchored in the bay may walk up and down the sand. They are permitted come to the beach club to eat and get a drink (and to use the beach furniture and the watersports equipment depending on availability), but at the eastern end of the beach, a section of sand called Little Deadman’s (where the anchorage happens to be good) is set aside and yachtsmen are encouraged to use it.
The other beaches on Peter Island are relatively remote, but the hotel is happy to deliver you for the day or half a day, with a picnic if you like. Beyond Little Deadman’s, near the tip, is Honeymoon Beach, a delightful, tiny corner of white sand to which you can also be delivered, but the finest of the other beaches is probably White Bay, which is protected on the southern side of the island. It is calm there and a suntrap – and you will usually be alone. There are four sunshades with loungers. While there is no ‘service’ as such, water is left in coolers and there is a phone in case of emergency. Finally Big Reef Beach is on the windward side, where it is often quite breezy, so it is all right to walk along the three quarters of a mile of excellent sand, but it is not good for swimming.
The pool area, near the reception and main dining room, is reserved for guests of the hotel. There is a large kidney-shaped swimming pool surrounded by loungers and ‘bohio’ thatched shelters. People take the loungers into the very attractive gardens nearby. Finally there is also a pool at the spa for the use of guests having treatments there.
Visiting Deadman’s Beach for the day
It is possible for visitors to spend the day on Peter Island and to use the beach facilities including the beach club. You should go to the Peter Island Dock on the western edge of Road Town. It might be worth ringing in advance to see how full the hotel is.
Sports & Recreation Sporting activities, both water and land based sports, are almost all gathered around the beach club on Deadman’s Bay. Snorkelling gear is available and there is a reef in Little Deadman’s Bay, a walk along the beach. Other equipment to use in the bay includes sea kayaks, windsurfers and small sailboats and catamarans. A volleyball pitch is laid out on the sand. There is a Fitness Centre in the beach club. Equipment includes running machine and cycles with a view of the beach.
There are four tennis courts in all, located across from the beach club. These can be lit if you want to play in the cooler evenings.
If you would like a walk, paths run around the eastern part of the island on the high ground. Mountain bikes are also available. You can even take a helicopter tour of the Channel if you like, from the helipad on the top. The Virgin Islands are spectacularly beautiful and so this is often a highlight of a visit.
Scuba diving is available. There is a dive shop in the marina in Inner Bay which takes out trips to the nearby sites including Salt Island – usually for the wreck of the RMS Rhone - and The Indians and Angelfish Reef off Norman Island. Weather permitting it is possible to dive off Dead Chest in Deadman’s Bay. The dive company also takes snorkelling trips out.
Peter Island has its own yacht, Silmaril, a 41 ft monohull with classic design. It takes up to eight passengers on day sailing trips with snorkelling and beach stops on the islands up and down the chain. Peter Island offers a stay sail option with Silmaril, in which you can exchange nights afloat for booked nights in the hotel.
Spa The spa at Peter Island is set on its own bay - the east-facing Big Reef Bay - and staff will run you down if you do not want to walk. The main building is in Caribbean style, with walls of cut stone and dark wood with a red tin roof. You enter via a large foyer with the boutique and the locker rooms and then pass into the relaxation lounge, where you can spend time after or between treatments. It is nicely decorated with muslin hangings and greenery in urns.
There are ten treatment rooms in the spa itself, two of which are for couples who want treatments together and two of which are ‘wet’ rooms with Vichy showers and hydrotubs. Most have a sea view from their own terrace. Set slightly on their own, beyond the spa pool closer to the shoreline, are two ‘bohio’, thatched rooms for couples – these have a superb view out to sea. Treatments at the Peter Island Spa include several types of massage, among them deep tissue, aromatherapy and hot sand and stone massages, several body wraps and scrubs, manicures, pedicures and a hair salon. They use Ingrid Millet products for facials and Viatone oils for their massages.
The Rooms The rooms at Peter Island Resort are divided into two different areas and you may want to choose carefully between them. The first, the Ocean View Rooms, are set close to the heart of the hotel, near the main pool and dining room. If you are less mobile then you might be better off in a downstairs rooms here, which anyway are particularly bright and airy. The Beachfront Junior Suites are more tucked away, in a lovely position at the near end of Deadman’s Beach. They are slightly larger (and more expensive) and have a cracking view over the bay. Please note that in keeping with the spirit of the resort, the rooms are intentionally lean with regard to technology and they do not have TVs or DVDs, though if you want to watch something particular you can always go to the Club Room. Rooms are fan-ventilated, but they can also be air-conditioned.
Standards and decoration in the rooms are similar. They were all redesigned in late 2008. They have some natural material, wicker and wooden furniture, and natural wood in the doors and French windows and they are tiled with wooden ceilings. The colour scheme is extremely bright but offbeat, with vibrant shades of blue, green and orange in the fabrics and in the artwork.
In addition to the rooms and suites there are three villas for rent on Peter Island, which vary in size between three and six bedrooms. These are set away from the regular rooms, on the hilltops, so you can expect magnificent views and additional privacy. They each have dedicated staff – a butler, a chef, housekeepers and a driver on standby to transport you around the resort - so you will also have additional levels of service. The staff will liaise with you before you arrive so that your needs and likes have been anticipated.
Dining You can expect to eat well at Peter Island. The main dining room, Tradewinds, is next to the foyer in Inner Bay, overlooking the pool in one direction and in another Sir Francis Drake Channel and Tortola beyond. It is elegantly decorated, with tablecloths and wooden dining chairs offset by the natural stone and wood of the decoration. The two main areas are an air-conditioned indoor dining room and an outdoor section (Drake’s Lounge) under a trellis in the open air. A limited dress code is in force at Tradewinds. Men are asked to wear collared shirts and trousers, though a jacket and a tie are not necessary. Women are asked to be elegantly casual. During the daytime everyone is asked to cover up a swimming costume.
The cuisine at Peter Island, steered by executive chef Michael Clinton, is a satisfying mix of international tastes – some are classic dishes that have been adapted, others are an unexpected combination of traditional and Caribbean ingredients. In addition to the classic continental dishes there are notable Italian and Asian influences.
There is a small private dining room at the back of the indoor section. Tradewinds Wine Room is large enough for a private dinner for 16. It is used for Peter Island’s Vintners wine-pairing evenings each Thursday.
During the day you are quite likely to be around the beach area, in which case you will be nearer to Deadman’s Beach Bar and Grill. This has an open-sided dining room under a shingle roof which looks out onto the beach. Here they serve a simpler menu of burgers, salads and platters of fish. Light meals are also served at the spa so you do not have to leave during your treatments.
Room Service is available. The villas at Peter Island have their own chefs.
Weddings Peter Island is happy to arrange a wedding for you on the island. They have a wedding coordinator who will make contact with you and help you plan the day down to the last detail. They will oversee all the legal and other requirements (the licence and the trip to the registrar and their fees, for instance) and of course they can arrange spa treatments, flowers for the bride and the venue, your cake, entertainment and a photographer. You are required to be resident in the BVI for three days before you are permitted to marry there.
For the ceremony itself there are some delightful locations around the island of course. Some of the most popular spots are – the beach at Deadman’s Bay, on the heights of the island’s spine overlooking the Caribbean and the spa area, where there is a grove of coconut palms. And the hotel has all the facilities to create a superb reception and dinner of course, which again can be set in a spectacular location. You can even ‘go away’ on their yacht.
Peter Island is happy to arrange ceremony for a renewal of vows.
Children Children are welcome on Peter Island and while the hotel has a generally secluded atmosphere that is ideal for a couples’ hideaway, there are no restrictions in where children are allowed to go. There are no dedicated children’s facilities, but babysitting can be arranged at extra charge.
Dress Code: Elegantly casual. Sports wear during the day. Shorts or dry bathing suits with cover-ups are permitted in the dining room during the day. Men are requested to wear trousers and a collared shirt in the Tradewinds areas after 6pm and ladies are asked to wear suitably elegant resort attire - no shorts, jeans and tennis shoes (or open toed shoes for men). Casual wear and shorts is acceptable for dinner at Deadman’s Beach Bar & Grill
Facilities: 1,800 acre resort with 5 beaches, freshwater swimming pool, 5 beaches, Tradewinds Restaurant and Wine Room, Deadman’s Beach Bar & Grill, Drake’s Channel Lounge bar, library with large screen TV, reception desk, full service Peter Island Spa with Jacuzzi, spa boutique, 4 Tru-flex tennis courts, Paradise Watersports and PADI Resort dive operation, fitness centre, hiking and cycling trails, helicopter pad, half-court basketball, gift shop, 10-slip yacht harbour with eight moorings
Complimentary: Afternoon tea. Weekly manager’s cocktail party. Nightly entertainment. Watersports with instruction - Hobie Wave, Laser and Sunfish Sailboats, snorkelling equipment, single and double Sea Kayaks and windsurfers. Mountain bikes. Day and night tennis. Beach volleyball. Nightly movies. White Bay ‘Stranded’ beach picnic. Horticulture Tours. Resort shuttle and transportation to remote beaches
Other Services: Full service spa with hair and beauty salon. WiFi access in main areas. PCs with high speed internet access available in Peter Island Club. Return airport transfers from Terrance B. Lettsome Airport (Beef Island) are US$55 pp or US$30 pp one-way and from Cyril E. King Airport (St. Thomas) US$95 pp or U$55 pp one-way. Concierge Services for snorkelling trips, day trips to The Baths, deep sea fishing, Silmaril yacht charters, bareboat sailing, helicopter tours, shopping and golf trips to St Thomas arranged. PADI resort courses. Laundry service. Custom order mini-bar. Continental breakfast room service. Dedicated wedding coordinator. Meetings and Incentive Concierge – resort available for exclusive rental for groups. Vintner’s wine-pairing dinner. Tennis lessons
Accommodation: 56 rooms, suites and villas
Room Types: All rooms have air-conditioned bedroom with sitting area, ceiling fan, king-size bed (twins on request), mini-bar, CD player, direct dial telephone, en suite bathroom, furnished private balcony or terrace. 32 x Ocean View Rooms are located in two-storey cottages with 2 upper (with exposed loft) and 2 lower rooms and are close to the pool and Tradewinds restaurant and bar, with views of the gardens and ocean. The bedrooms feature a small sitting area with two chairs next to the balcony/terrace and bathrooms feature tub with shower. Max occupancy 3 persons. 20 x Beach Front Junior Suites are located on a rocky bluff and overlook Deadman's beach. Set two-storey cottages with 2 upper and 2 lower suites, these are more spacious with the bedroom set into an alcove, a sitting area with sofa, coffee table and chair, small wet bar and a writing desk. The en suite bathroom has a walk-through double-headed shower and a Jacuzzi tub for two which is separated from the bedroom by a large window. Max occupancy 4 persons. 4 x Villas – Hawk's Nest (3,626 sq ft interior/2,100 sq ft exterior) villa has 3 bedrooms en suite, a plunge pool, large patio area, living room with kitchen, media den and dining area, plus a separate 2-bedroom (en suite) cottage, Pool Quarters, with sitting room and kitchenette. Located within the main resort area guests use regular guest transportation and all meals are taken at the Resort Restaurants. This villa has the full services of a Villa Director but any additional request for staffing is provided at a surcharge. Crow's Nest (6,500 sq ft interior/5,200 sq ft exterior) villa has 4 bedrooms all with en suite bathrooms with double Jacuzzi tub and separate shower, living room sitting and dining area, fully equipped kitchen, media room, terrace with infinity edge pool and main terrace with plunge pool. Falcon's Nest (21,645 sq ft interior/4,000 sq ft exterior) is an impressive 6-bedroom villa with master bedroom suites each with private balcony and en suite indoor/outdoor bathroom with laser-lit rain shower heads. Two-storey Great Room with elevated terrace, media room with flat screen TV, dining room with Tiger Maple dining table and chairs, bar, fully equipped kitchen, chef’s prep kitchen plus a service room. Spa treatment room. Fully equipped exercise room. Outdoor living and covered dining area with barbecue. Two-tier cascading swimming pool with infinity edge, swim-up bar, Jacuzzi and grotto with waterfall. Specially designed nanny’s quarters. Raven’s Nest (11,000 sq ft interior/5,900 sq ft exterior) is the resorts latest villa (due for completion 2008/09) and has 6 bedrooms en suite including a 2,100 sq ft master suite and a separate building with two of the bedrooms each with central living areas. The main villa has both indoor and outdoor relaxation areas, a large gallery dining room, a home-theatre and two kitchens. A large terrace has an infinity-edge swimming pool, a whirlpool, sunbathing pool and wet bar. The Crow's Nest, Falcon's Nest and Raven's Nest villas all include an 18-hour-a-day attendant, a valet, chef, housekeeper, groundsman, and a 24-hour private chauffeured vehicle on standby
Children: No children under eight years are permitted in the main resort areas. Children 8-11 years may stay in adults room (double occupancy) for an additional US$75 per night for meals. There may be specified times for dining, use of the pool and designated adult only areas. Crow’s Nest and Falcon’s Nest villas will accommodate children of all ages
Weddings: The Peter Island Wedding In Paradise package costs US$2,500 and includes a marriage licence/stamp (return transfers to file application for licence), registrar's fee, location fee for ceremony (extra cost for Crow’s Nest Villa), bride's bouquet, wedding cake, and a bottle of house champagne with two logo engraved champagne flutes as a memento. A dedicated Wedding Coordinator is available on-site to assist with all the arrangements. Weddings can be tailored to suit with optional extras including photography, music, floral arrangements, catering, spa treatments and salon services, and videography
All rates are quoted in US$, per room/villa per night and include breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner (FAP = Full American Plan) and are subject to an additional 7% Government Tax and 11% Service Charge. The Crow’s Nest and Falcon’s Nest villas include a butler, chef and chauffeured vehicle. All rates are subject to change without notice.
Deposit and Cancellation Terms: A 3 night depositis required to confirm all room/suite reservations or 50% deposit for villas, with full payment due 60 days prior to arrival. Deposits for a room/suite booking are refundable for cancellations notified 30 days prior to arrival (increases to 60 days for bookings of two or more rooms).Deposits for villas are refundable for cancellations notified 60 days prior to arrival, with loss of 50% deposit if cancelled 45-59 days prior to arrival and no refund within 45 days of arrival. For Christmas/New Year reservations a 3 night non-refundable deposit for rooms/suites and 50% for villas is required on booking, with full payment due by 01 October, and only the balance will be refunded if cancellations are notified by 15 October. All deposits and payments must include the 17% tax and service. Please contact Peter Island Resort for details of minimum stay requirements.
Special Packages All of the following special packages for Peter Island are based on double occupancy, FAP (Full American Plan) and include the following as standard - breakfast, lunch, afternoon refreshments and dinner, unlimited resort launch to/from Tortola, and unlimited use of all Peter Island Resort complimentary amenities such as Hobie Wave, Sunfish and Laser Sailboats, Sea Kayaks, snorkeling equipment, windsurfers, mountain bikes, club room, tennis courts, fitness center & swimming pool:
Paradise Now Package - A 5-night package with accommodation, unlimited resort launch to/from Tortola during stay, picnic lunch on one of their secluded beaches, and unlimited use of water-sports equipment, mountain bikes, club room, tennis courts, windsurfing, snorkeling, fitness center & swimming pool. Cost in 2009 from US$2,860 in an Ocean View Room, based on double occupancy plus 18% tax and service charges. Ashore/Afloat Package – spend 2 nights aboard the Silmaril sailboat (41’) and either 2 nights or 5 nights of resort accommodations, plus all standard package amenities. Cost in 2009 from US$4,243 for 4 nights or US$5,894 for 7 nights with Ashore stay in an Ocean View Room, based on double occupancy plus 18% tax and service charges. Island Romance Package - welcome bottle of champagne, invitation the gourmet vintner dinner, your choice of a day trip to St. Thomas (Tuesday and Saturday) or to Virgin Gorda (Thursday), trip to The Loop to watch the sunset including wine, fruit, and cheese, plus all standard package amenities. Cost in 2009 from US$2,848 for 4 nights or US$4,499 for 7 nights in an Ocean View Room, based on double occupancy plus 18% tax and service charges. Aqua Adventure Package - Scuba dive with Peter Island including two x 2-tank dives pp for a 4 night stay/four x 2-tank dives pp on the 7 night stay OR take the Resort Course with 1 shallow dive pp on a 4 night stay/Resort Course and 3 shallow dives pp on 7 night stay, plus all standard package amenities. Cost in 2009 from US$2,663 for 4 nights or US$4,674 for 7 nights in an Ocean View Room, based on double occupancy plus 18% tax and service charges. Honeymooner Package – a 7 night celebration includes a welcome bottle of champagne, invitation to the gourmet Vintner Dinner, trip to The Loop to watch the sunset including wine, fruit, and cheese, a couples massage in the Couples Suite (90 minutes), and a day trip to your choice of either St. Thomas or Virgin Gorda, plus all standard package amenities. Cost in 2009 from US$4,859 in an Ocean View Room, based on double occupancy plus 18% tax and service charges. Ultimate Honeymooner Package – celebrate in style for 7 nights with a welcome bottle of champagne, rose petals & candle turndown, invitations to the gourmet Vintner Dinner, a trip to The Loop to watch the sunset including wine, fruit, and cheese, a Couples Spa Suite Retreat (5 hrs), a private dinner on the beach during one night of your stay, a professional photo shoot and ‘Memory’ picture frame, and a day trip to your choice of either St. Thomas or Virgin Gorda, plus all standard package amenities. Cost in 2009 from US$6,164 in an Ocean View Room, based on double occupancy plus 18% tax and service charges. Sea and Self Signature Series Package – each guest will receive a range of treatments from the spa to include one 75 minute Signature Series massage, one 45 minute Signature Series Body Scrub, one 75 minute Signature Series Wrap/Scrub and one Thalasso mud bowl, plus all the standard package amenities. Cost in 2009 from US$3,646 for 5 nights or US$4,722 for 7 nights in an Ocean View Room, based on double occupancy plus 18% tax and service charges. Other spa packages include a Summer/Fall Spa Retreat Package, a Winter Spa Escape Package, a Pleasures in Paradise Enhancement Package, a Sun Soother Spa Enhancement Package and a Spa Revitalization Enhancement Package, and finally there is a Babymoon Package to celebrate impending parenthood, plus a series of Yoga Week packages.
Please see Peter Island’s website for full package details and prices including the Beach Front Junior Suites. Rates do not include drinks or airport transfers. All packages and prices are subject to change without notice and Black-out dates/restrictions may apply.
How to book If you wish to make further enquiries or a reservation, please use the WEB LINK or DIRECT EMAIL ENQUIRIES facility at the top of this page to make contact with Peter Island in the BVI, or if you wish to telephone them, please click on TELEPHONE CONTACT to reveal the number.
UK Tour Operators If you wish to book through a tour operator or travel organiser, please follow the TOUR OPERATOR link below. See List of UK Tour Operators
Locality Peter Island is one of the ‘islands in the chain’, on the southern side of Sir Francis Drake Channel across from Tortola. These islands are largely undeveloped, though there are several good beach bars among them, which can make for an amusing afternoon or evening.
Off Peter Island itself, in Deadman’s Bay, you will see a lump of rock called Dead Chest. This is supposedly the island that features in the sea shanty about pirates, Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest… Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum! Drink and the Devil have done for the rest…
To the west of Peter Island lies Norman Island, which has an excellent anchorage, good snorkelling and a couple of beach bars (and plans for a hotel, though nothing has materialised yet). If Dead Chest off Peter Island features in the sea shanty, then Norman Island is supposed to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. To the other side of Peter Island you come to Salt Island, which is called so because salt was once harvested there in solar pans. It is privately owned and has no development at all. It is best known for its principal dive site, the wreck of the RMS Rhone.
The run across to Tortola takes 20 minutes and goes into Peter Island’s dedicated dock on the eastern edge of Road Town Harbour. From here it is a quick ride into town if you want to take a look. Taxis are available for an island tour if you wish and the hotel will happily arrange one in advance. There are several marinas on the island with a lively feel and there are good beaches on the north shore. Cane Garden bay is lively and Smuggler’s Cove is usually delightfully deserted.
Meet & Greet Most guests head for Beef Island, the main airport in the BVI, which is off the eastern end of Tortola. Beef Island cannot take large planes, so European travellers tend to travel via Antigua or St Maarten and statesiders usually arrive via San Juan, Puerto Rico, or via St Thomas in the USVI. Scheduled local carriers run inter-island hopper planes, but private charter flights are available to make the inter-island transfers if you wish. Once you reach Beef Island, you will be met at the airport and then transferred to Peter Island’s private dock on the edge of Road Town. From there you will catch the ferry across to the island. The airport transfer costs US$55 per person return.
If you do travel via the USVI you have the option of catching a ferry to the BVI (preferably Road Town, but possibly the West End, from where it is a taxi ride to the Peter Island dock). You should be aware that ferry times make the journey from St Thomas airport to the ferry departure terminal a bit stressful. If all of this is simply too much then there is a helicopter pad on Peter Island to which you can get a transfer from San Juan or St Thomas in the USVI.
Getting Around On Peter Island itself, the hotel will deliver you to the remote beaches and there is a track around the eastern end that you can explore on foot or on a mountain bike. To explore the islands nearby, the best option is probably to take one of the island tours that the hotel offers. Or you can charter one of their runabout boats with a captain.
If you wish to visit Tortola then the Peter Island ferry makes about ten crossings a day, right up to the late evening. The hotel is happy to arrange car hire for you or a taxi with a guide.
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